Trump criticizes Pelosi by advocating for a ban on congressional stock trading, receives applause from Sen. Warren

Unusual Moments at Trump’s State of the Union

WASHINGTON — One of the more surprising moments during President Trump’s extensive State of the Union address was Sen. Elizabeth Warren standing up to applaud.

Warren, a prominent progressive voice and one of Trump’s toughest critics in the Senate, was surprisingly encouraged by the president as he called for Congress to pass an anti-insider-trading law.

“Let’s ensure that every American can benefit from the stock market’s growth, and that Congress members can’t use inside information for personal gain. Let’s push for the Insider Trading Act right away,” Trump stated during his speech.

This proposed legislation aims to prevent members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from trading publicly listed stocks. It also mandates that they must give public notice a week in advance before selling any stocks.

Warren has consistently backed similar measures over the years. Other Democrats also joined in, standing and clapping, which caught the president’s attention.

“They stood up for it. Can you believe that?” Trump remarked. “Did Nancy Pelosi support this?”

“Be wary,” he cautioned. This bill has already passed a House committee and is pending a vote in the House.

Republicans have targeted Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over her husband’s well-timed stock trades in the past, with her net worth listed at over $269 million as per Quiver Quantitative. This has made her one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

Pelosi appeared to glare at Trump after he made those pointed remarks, sitting next to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and scribbling notes throughout the address.

These remarks from the president seemed to serve as some sort of payback for a long-standing disagreement, notably after Pelosi had famously torn up Trump’s speech during the last State of the Union in 2020 in view of the television cameras.

Occasionally, Trump received applause from Democrats during his lengthy address. Warren was also spotted standing when he mentioned that Iran shouldn’t be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

For the most part, however, Democrats seemed to endure Trump’s speech rather than engage with it, rarely applauding. Some members, including Reps. Al Green (D-Texas), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), interrupted him at various points.

This year marked the second consecutive time that Greene was removed from the House during Trump’s speech, this time for displaying a sign reading “Black people are not monkeys,” in response to Trump’s controversial social media activity earlier in the month.